Humanities: Debates On Ethics of Big Data

Credits
2
Types
Compulsory
Requirements
This subject has not requirements , but it has got previous capacities
Department
ESSI
Web
https://learnsql.fib.upc.es/moodle/
In this course we debate the impact on society of new advances in Big Data. We focus on ethics and the impact of such approaches on society. This course fosters the social competences of students, by building on their acquired oral communication skills to debate about concrete problems involving ethical issues in Big Data. The aim is to start developing their critical attitude and reflection. A written summary of their position is meant to train their writing skills.

During the course sessions the debates discussing innovative and visionary ideas on Big Data will take place. You must read the available material before the debate. Then, during the debate you will be assign to a group: either to defend an idea, or go against it. You may also be asked to moderate the debate. Then, the debate takes place and afterwards, each group needs to write down a report with their conclusions.

Teachers

Person in charge

Others

Weekly hours

Theory
0.5
Problems
0
Laboratory
2.5
Guided learning
0
Autonomous learning
5.33

Objectives

  1. Acknowledge the current and future impact of next generation BI systems and Big Data on society
    Related competences:
  2. Ability to study and analyze problems in a critical mood
    Related competences:
  3. Ability to critically read texts
    Related competences:
  4. Develop critical reasoning with special focus on ethics and social impact
    Related competences:
  5. Develop soft skills to defend - criticize a predetermined position in public
    Related competences:
  6. Improve the writing skills
    Related competences:

Contents

  1. Introduction: Debate Rules and Course Structure
    In this first module we will present the course, its structure and methodology.
  2. Ethics and social impact of next generation BI systems and Big Data: Debates
    After presenting what will be next in the area of BI and Big Data, in this module we discuss the impact these new ideas will have on society. More specifically, we will discuss about ethics, personal data protection, hacking, licensing / patenting and IP rights. The discussion will be on the form of debates.

Activities

Activity Evaluation act


Introduction

The course is introduced. We will discuss the course structure, the methodology and the evaluation.
  • Theory: The course is introduced. We will discuss the course structure, the methodology and the evaluation.
  • Autonomous learning: Preparation of the first debate during this week. Also, it consider getting familiar with the debate rules.

Contents:
Theory
3h
Problems
0h
Laboratory
0h
Guided learning
0h
Autonomous learning
8h

Debates on Ethics and social impact of next generation BI systems and Big Data

During these sessions the debates discussing innovative and visionary ideas on BI and Big Data will take place. You must read the available material before the debate. Then, during the debate you will assign to a group: either to defend an idea, or go against it. You may also be asked to moderate the debate. Then, the debate takes place and afterwards, each group needs to write down a report with their conclusions.
  • Laboratory: The debates will take place throughout 5 weeks.
  • Autonomous learning: The student is expected to read the available material to prepare the debate before the lecture. Also, the student is expected to create the summary report after the debate.
Objectives: 4 5 1 3 6 2
Contents:
Theory
0h
Problems
0h
Laboratory
15h
Guided learning
0h
Autonomous learning
24h

Teaching methodology

There will be 6 face-to-face sessions. The first one introduces the course. The other will be debates. Before each debate, a proposed topic is given, together with some basic material (typically papers) to foste a debate during the next lecture.

The students are meant to read the material, and look for additional stuff, *before* the lecture so that they can better defend their position during the debate.
During the lecture, there will be an organized debate (pro and against groups will be configured as well as a moderator).
After the debate, each group (pro, against and moderator) will be asked to write down their debate conclusions.

The course methodology puts the focus on three main aspects:
- Critical reasoning (with special focus on ethics and social impact),
- Develop soft skills to defend - criticize a position in public,
- Improve the writing skills summarizing an event.

Evaluation methodology

Each debate entails two main parts:
- (60%) The face-to-face debate Db (this mark is computed from the report written by the moderator group and supervised by the lecturers),
- (40%) The written conclusions Wr.

Thus, each debate mark is computed as Db*0,6 + Wr*0,4. The final mark will be computed as the average of the debates. Those students not debating will have to write a report and their session mark will be 100% on Wr.

The evaluation is done on an individual basis.

Bibliography

Basic

Complementary

Previous capacities

Basic knowledge in Business Intelligence and Big Data.